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Industrial Fanless Computing

Fanless computers are used extensively in situations where harsh environmental factors such as dust or vibration could easily cause a conventional computer to fail, or in applications where silent operation is important. But why is this technology so suited to such conditions?

A fanless computer doesn’t rely on active cooling using fans, instead heat is dissipated through a heat sync which uses a large surface area to quickly disperse excess heat. This has a number of benefits.

Firstly, because a fanless PC does not rely on drawing air into the enclosure to cool the components, it can be more effectively sealed against environmental contaminants such as dust and moisture. This eliminates the chances of the computer clogging, thereby increasing its reliability significantly.

Secondly, a fanless computer fitted with a solid state drive (SSD) will have no moving parts, further reducing the risk of failure. This also makes the machine particularly resilient to shock and vibration, as solid state components are far more tolerant to such stressors.

Finally, because the PC has no moving parts it will run silently, an important consideration in situations where noise could be an issue.

Fanless PCs are increasing in popularity in many sectors such as defence, aerospace and transportation. For instance, they will often be found in roadside equipment where reliability and tolerance to a range of environmental conditions is of paramount importance.